Sean “Diddy” Combs’ associates may allegedly be trying to cozy up to the Trump administration in the hopes of securing a pardon for the rapper in his ongoing sex trafficking case, according to a report.
Combs is currently on trial in the Southern District of New York on sex trafficking and racketeering charges brought against him last September.
Since January, people close to Combs have reportedly been trying to gain favor among those in President Donald Trump’s orbit, according to Rolling Stone, citing sources close to the individuals involved.
One of the sources told the magazine that Combs is “willing to do anything to get out of jail.”
“He’s always been this way. He’s always going to do what he has to do to get out of a situation,” the source reportedly said. “He doesn’t even like Donald Trump.”
Earlier this week, imprisoned music executive Suge Knight predicted that Trump would pardon Combs if convicted.
Knight, who is currently serving a 28-year sentence after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a 2015 fatal hit-and-run, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, “Puffy’s gonna be alright.”
Thus far, there’s no evidence that any of these alleged attempts to get friendly with Trump world have actually reached the president, or that he’s even aware any of it is happening.
Trump has not publicly commented on the charges brought against Combs.
Trump officials who are aware of the conversations reportedly indicated to Rolling Stone that they would be reluctant to commute Combs’ sentence, if he’s found guilty, given the scale of the charges being brought against him.
Combs is currently being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has opted for a speedy trial. He has already turned down a plea deal and has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought against him. If convicted, Combs faces 15 years to life in prison.
The rapper’s allies, speaking to Trump’s orbiters, allegedly have tried to paint Combs’ case in Trumpian terms; a rich business mogul and controversial celebrity unfairly targeted by federal investigators, particularly investigators in New York.
Both men have been the subject of shocking sexual abuse-related allegations; Combs for trafficking and his infamous “freak offs,” and Trump for his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and author E Jean Carroll’s claims that the president assaulted her decades ago in New York.
According to one of the sources, “the words ‘deep state’ came up once or twice.”
In addition to trying to convince Trump-adjacent individuals of the pair’s similarities, Combs’ allies are also reportedly reminding the president’s people that Trump has known Combs for many years and has praised his character in the past.
“I love Diddy,” Trump said in an episode of The Apprentice. “You know he’s a good friend of mine; he’s a good guy.”
He then asked a contestant and former artist who worked for Combs, Aubrey O’Day, if the rapper was “a good guy.”
“I don’t want to answer that question,” O’Day responded, which prompted Trump to say that he was “going to stick up for him anyway.”
Trump has also reportedly been spotted at several Combs’ VIP parties over the years, and Combs name-dropped the real estate mogul in his 2006 song “We Gon’ Make It.” Trump is not implicated in any wrongdoing related to Diddy.
“I spend absurd money, private bird money, that Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Bloomberg money,” Combs sings in the song.
Combs has also referred to Trump as a friend; he told the Washington Post in 2015, shortly after Trump announced his presidential bid, that he was ” a friend of mine, and he works very hard.”
During Suge Knight’s interview, he said that he believed Combs had strings to pull in the government and that a pardon for the rapper isn’t out of the question.
“I think he’s got some favors with the government. I think they’re gonna show him a little leeway,” Knight said from prison. “It might not seem like it when it’s all said and done, but I don’t think he has nothing to worry about, and I don’t think he’s worried because he’s gonna be federal, and if he gets convicted, Trump’s gonna pardon him.”
Knight reasoned that Combs has a shot at being pardoned because his Death Row Records co-founder, Michael Harris, had his sentence for attempted murder and drug trafficking commuted by Trump in 2021.
“He pardoned Michael Harris,” Knight said. “They don’t care about that, it’s all about, you know, what’s in it for the long run.”
Despite their past and Suge Knight’s comments, Trump officials familiar with the conversations told Rolling Stone that backing Combs now would be a difficult proposition due to the public relations nightmare it would cause for a president already mired in numerous public controversies.
